DURHAM — Three candidates are running for two at-large seats on the Oyster River School Board during Tuesday’s election.

Candidates Denise Day of Durham, Sarah Farwell of Lee and Michael Williams of Durham are all seeking political office for the first time. Farwell and Williams have children in the district, while Day’s son attended Oyster River schools.

All three candidates support the proposed 10-year tuition agreement with Barrington that would allow up to 200 students from that town to attend Oyster River High School. About 70 Barrington students currently attend ORHS.

At-large school board members Ann Lane and Megan Turnbull are not seeking re-election. Board members serve a three-year term and are paid $750 a year.

Oyster River Cooperative School District includes Durham, Lee and Madbury. At-large seats are elected by voters from all three towns.

Denise Day

Denise Day, 54, works as a family advocate supervisor for Strafford County Head Start. She’s married and has an adult son.

She’s attended school board meetings for the last three years. After realizing she had expertise in many of the issues that come before the board, she decided to run for a seat.

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Denise Day

Day believes the current school board is leading the district in the right direction. She expects the board will continue to face questions about school enrollment and other long-term issues over the next three years.

“I am not going in with a mindset to change anything in particular,” she said. “I hope to be able to really listen across the board from administrators to staff to the community to make the best decisions to benefit our district.”

“I am definitely a firm believer in getting as much information as possible to make decisions that are for the benefit of district, not just for today, but (for) the next five, 10 or 15 years,” she added.

Day believes the board has a responsibility to taxpayers and students and pledged to get as much information as possible before making financial decisions.

“We definitely want to spend our tax dollars wisely,” she said. “I believe we have good quality schools and I would want to make sure we maintain the good quality we have in our schools.”

Sarah Farwell

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Michael
Williams

Sarah Farwell, 44, is a married stay-at-home mother of three children ranging from kindergarten to middle school. She was drawn to Lee in part because of the quality of Oyster River schools.

She’s been following the school district since before her oldest student entered kindergarten. “As I followed all along, I became more and more invested and interested and passionate about what goes on in them and I want to makes sure the schools have people advocating for them,” she said.

She wants the board and district administrators to become better at prioritizing short and long-term needs instead of “putting out little fires” as they arise.

“I would like to see administrators prioritize for the district with the help of the school board, teachers, and the community,” she said.

At least initially, she plans to take her lead from administrators, principals and the superintendent “because I think they are the ones that have the boots on the ground,” she said.

On the subject of balancing school needs versus taxpayer interests, Farwell aims to strike a balance.

“Anyone following the school board over the past few years really heard a cry from taxpayers that we can’t keep growing at huge increments,” she said. “At the same rate, I think that there is nothing more valuable than to put money into than education.”

Michael Williams

Michael Williams, 34, of Durham, works as an engineering director. He’s married with three children ages 5, 3 and four months.

He decided to run because he believes the district would benefit from a better decision-making process. He also wants the district to establish clearer priorities, work toward developing a five to 10-year capital improvement plan and leverage community resources to improve the district.

“What I have seen around the district recently is, we have a lot of ideas, but we don’t have a lot of ways to weigh one idea against another,” he said. “We don’t have a good way of analyzing what things cost and what it’s going to take to get things done. If we have a better process, we will make a better decision.”

Williams also would like to improve how the board tackles problems. He advocates for a more open approach that includes all stakeholders to arrive at “good decisions.”

He pledged to support district budgets that hold the line on current per-pupil costs. At most, he said, there should only be a small increase year over year.

“One of the challenges for the board is, as enrollment drops as we expect it to, we should be having a flat budget through that time,” he said. “Should not be increasing the budget in the face of falling enrollment.”